India assures steps to reduce civilian killings on border

India assured Bangladesh of taking steps to reduce the civilian killings on the frontier by BSF troops as the Home Secretary-level talks ended here Sunday striking set of agreements to maintain calm along the dividing lines between the two neighbours, reports UNB.brThe two sides at the meeting agreed to take action against militants and insurgent outfits, smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives and fake currency and bring the culprits to justice.brBangladesh, led by Home Secretary Abdul Karim, sought India's cooperation in taking preventive measures against anti-Bangladesh outfits based in India.brThe Indian side, led by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, in their turn sought Bangladesh's cooperation in tracing the presence of Indian insurgent groups they think are based in Bangladesh.brBoth the sides agreed that the verification process of released prisoners of one country held in the prisons of other should be expedited and modalities in this respect be worked out.brAsked whether some ULFA leaders who are reportedly in Bangladesh jails would come under this process, both the Home Secretaries said they are not considering individual cases but want to set up a mechanism to expedite the process of repatriation of those prisoners who completed their jail terms. Home Secretary Abdul Karim said this would not be applicable to those who are in court custody.brOn Indian proposal for construction of border fences within 150 yards of the international border, the Bangladesh side stated that the matter would be further examined, including through joint visits to vulnerable sections of the border by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) delegates.brThe meeting, however, did not make any precise progress on demarcation of 6.5 kms of unmarked border. The two sides agreed to convene a meeting of the Joint Boundary Working Group at an early date to discuss all outstanding boundary-related issues.brBoth sides agreed that apart from sharing information between the two nodal points and follow-up action, there is a strong need to identify the racketeers engaged in human trafficking, especially in women and children, and bring the perpetrators to justice.brThe meeting agreed to enhance cooperation between the Narcotics Control Departments of the two countries-and a meeting of the two departments would be held in October in New Delhi.brUnder another agreement, the two countries would enhance cooperation towards capacity building, including training of their law-enforcement agencies.brThe meeting ended on a note of satisfaction over the successful reactivation of the Joint Working Group at the level of Joint secretaries and designation of nodal points to deal with the issues of security and human trafficking.brBoth sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reaffirmed their commitment not to allow their territory to be used for any activity inimical to each other's interests.